Sarah vs 22 Minutes with Carina
by Altonish
Summary: 22 Minutes can be a tortuously long time when you're partnered with Carina. A missing moment from canon and a companion to Malamoo's Chuck vs. The Not so Ordinary Life. You don't need to have read that to enjoy this, but you should anyway.


**A/N:** This is a companion piece to Malamoo's Chuck vs. The Not So Normal Life. You don't have to have read that story to understand this one. This is just a small story that takes place in the background during the prologue of Not So Normal Life, but it refers back to a comment Sarah made in canon. See if you can pick it out.

Malamoo did the beta work, so any mistakes you find are all her fault. (Even the ones I made after she edited it.)

For the record I'm as happy as you all are that she's writing again.

**_Disclaimer:_** _If I owned Chuck do you think I'd spend my time writing fanfiction? No I'd be having demolition derbies with Ferrari's on my private island with Yvonne Strahotski. I mean duh!_

Sarah vs. 22 Minutes with Carina

Sarah sat in the jeep waiting. The motor was running and she re-checked her watch for the fifth time. Carina was supposed to be out of the warehouse in less than a minute and it was clear that she wasn't going to make it.

Sarah keyed her mic, "Where are you?"

"I'll be there in a sec," Carina answered over the radio.

"Six minutes, Carina, we only had six minutes!" Sarah growled.

"I know, but I found something…"

"You're not supposed to be digging; you're supposed to be setting the detonators!"

If Carina were beside her, she would have flipped her hair. "Relax, we've got time."

It was then that Sarah heard the rumble of approaching trucks. The few workers scattered around the compound reacted to the noise of the vehicles and started coming out of the sheds and makeshift buildings where they were sleeping or playing cards.

The only large building was the warehouse. Sarah keyed the mic again, "We've got company!"

"Relax, Walker."

"I'm switching us to rendezvous B."

"Just don't pani—" The rest of what Carina said was lost as gunshots rang out both over the radio and from across the compound where the warehouse was.

"CARINA!" Sarah shouted before she remembered where she was. She'd given away her position and several of the men in the compound started shouting and pointing both at her and running between buildings, most likely to arm themselves.

"Shhh!" Carina muttered. "Honestly, Walker, you're such a girl sometimes. Don't give us away."

"I think it's a little late for that," Sarah grumbled as she wrestled the jeep through the jungle. She was moving away from the compound to their alternate rendezvous. It was slightly further away, but would keep the jeep hidden.

She tore across a small stream spewing rocks and mud everywhere, it would be easy to track the jeep in the daylight, but as Sarah was driving only by the moonlight she'd be hidden until the sun started rising. She pulled the jeep into a dense thicket of plant life and tried not to think what kind of creatures were out in the jungle at night, as she grabbed two rifles out of the back and checked that her Smith & Wesson was secured in its holster.

Sarah hit her mic. "Where are you?"

Carina's voice came over the radio in a whisper. "We might have a problem."

"What now?"

"There's more militia than we thought, they have to whole building surrounded."

Sarah gnashed her teeth together. This _always_ happened anytime she was with Carina. "Why didn't you stick to the plan?" she demanded.

"I'll think of something," was Carina's only reply. "It'll need to be fast… there's only six minutes until the detonators go off."

"We're supposed to be long since gone by the time the detonators go off."

"Change of plans."

"You always say that."

Sarah hit the ground as she approached the outskirts of the compound. She flipped open the scope on her sniper rifle and took in the scene. A man with a bullhorn was shouting in Spanish.

"_You cannot escape. If you come out, maybe we ransom you back to your family, eh? If we come in for you, then we will just kill you, yes?"_

Sarah could see the glint of metal on the man's beret and she assumed he was in charge of what appeared to be a rogue military unit. The military was supposed to be their allies, but yet again, here was another one working for the cartel. She could see him issuing orders, though she couldn't tell what he was saying. Men started to move towards the building and Sarah centered her sights on the man's chest and fired.

The men in the compound rushed into action trying to seek cover and get their injured leader out of the line of fire.

"What happened?" Carina's voice came over the radio.

"I shot the guy with the bullhorn. They seem upset," Sarah answered. She proceeded to start taking out lights in the compound. It would help Carina slip out of the warehouse, but it was going to make her muzzle flares even more obvious. True to her thoughts, as she took out the last light on the side of the warehouse, bullets starting tearing into the leaves around her.

"Back left corner, you should be clear. Go, now," Sarah whispered into the mic.

She proceeded to take out as many soldiers as she could. There weren't many places for them to hide inside the compound. Sarah fired a few shots into the fuel depot hoping to start a fire, but a sniper rifle wasn't exactly the best choice for that task.

She saw Carina slip out of the window of the warehouse, down a rope and quickly to the ground. A few of the soldiers saw her as well and started firing. She dropped one and then a second. The men scattered to try and get out of the line of fire. Another barrage of bullets flew over her head. She could hear them whistling as they went by…not a good sign. Carina was on the move, but she was going slowly.

"Hurry up!" Sarah urged her.

"I'm coming," Carina growled.

Sarah exhausted her sniper rounds and threw the rifle on the ground. It wouldn't be making the journey home. She pulled the M4 off her back and started firing short bursts at the men giving chase to Carina.

"Keep moving," Sarah muttered.

"On it."

A jeep pulled out from around the warehouse with a large machine gun mounted on the roof. "SHIT!" Sarah shouted.

She jumped up and ran sideways carrying her rifle with her. Running away wasn't going to do her any good as the range of the gun on the jeep would carry far into the jungle. Heavy bullets starting tearing the jungle apart at all angles, Sarah ducked behind a large tree hoping it could provide her some shelter as the large caliber bullets ripped at the jungle.

"What the hell?" Carina shouted over the radio. "Can't you shoot that guy?"

"Negative," Sarah replied. "Run!"

Sarah heard Carina grunt before her mic closed.

When the giant gun finally quieted Sarah started making her way back to rendezvous B. She heard the men enter the jungle behind her. Thankfully their thrashing and tromping covered up the sounds of her own escape. The men were obviously more used to travelling in the jungle because she could hear their shouts getting closer.

The ground shook and the shouts got more panicked as somewhere behind them the warehouse exploded. The ball of flames lit up the entire jungle and Sarah glanced behind her, she could see the soldier's silhouettes.

Sarah tossed the M4 aside when she came to the creek and scrambled across it and then ran as hard as she could.

A few shots zinged through the jungle, but it was clear they couldn't tell exactly where she was. She sprinted into rendezvous B, only the jeep was gone... "Carina!" Sarah screamed into her mic.

Sarah couldn't stop; they were still right on her heels. She broke for the road. They'd be coming, but she could run faster without the jungle. She stripped off her jacket and tossed it aside; trying to muster all the speed she could in the heavy boots she was wearing. Her lungs were burning and her eyes were watering as she sprinted.

"Carina," Sarah wheezed into her mic again. She couldn't believe her friend would just abandon her here.

She heard a vehicle coming up from behind her and she had to get off the road. She ducked back off the road and into the heavier jungle, but it was no good, she heard the vehicle slide to a stop where she'd turned off into the heavy foliage. "WALKER!" she heard Carina's voice shout. Sarah froze.

She turned and headed back the way she came to find Carina sitting in the jeep on the road. Sarah dove into the passenger seat and Carina gunned the engine. "What the hell," Sarah gasped. "Where did you go?"

"I had to go back and pick up the money." Carina nodded her head to the rear seat. Sarah straightened and looked in the seat behind them. There were bricks of cash bundled into two duffle bags.

"Money?" Sarah exclaimed in outrage. "You almost blew the mission for _money_?"

Carina turned and gave her a devilish smile. "There's almost two million there."

"SO!" This was unbelievable. "We could have been killed!"

"Yeah," Carina smirked. "But the DEA didn't expect to find any cash."

"What?" Sarah sputtered. "What the hell does that have to do with anything? The mission was to blow up the warehouse."

"Yeah, but if the DEA doesn't know there was money," Carina raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to the road. "What they didn't know about, they won't miss."

"God, Carina," Sarah huffed. "Even you aren't that dirty. We're turning it in."

"What? Why?" Carina objected.

"It's drug money." Sarah shook her head. "You can't just keep it."

"Why not?"

"Because it's what my father would do."

Carina gave her an odd look. "Why shouldn't we get a little something for risking our lives?" Carina asked.

"Carina, no." Sarah turned back and faced the road as the jeep navigated the twisty little road in the pitch black night. "I can't believe you almost got us killed for money," she muttered.

"Oh come on… you had fun. Admit it."

Sarah rolled her eyes and didn't speak to Carina again until they were on the flight home.

* * *

Sarah sighed and threw her keys into the bowl on the entry table. What a day. The worst part was that she had a meeting with General Beckman in the morning. She'd apparently been pulled from Director Graham's authority and was getting an assignment from some talking head at the DNI.

She'd spent the last several days debriefing the Washington contingent on exactly what happened on her last mission while she was farmed out to the DEA. While the mission had been a success there were apparently some issue with the way it had been successful.

Sarah headed back to her bedroom to change clothes, but as she approached her room her hand dropped to her waistband and she removed her Smith & Wesson from its hiding spot. "I know you're there, come out before I shoot you."

Carina stepped out of the shadows of her bedroom, dressed in a stunning cocktail dress and high heels that were just a little too high. "God, Walker, you're so paranoid."

Sarah let the hand holding her gun drop to her side. "You know, one of these days I'm actually going to shoot you."

Carina gave her a devilish smile. "You wouldn't."

"Sometimes I think I might just do it for fun."

"Touchy, touchy, Walker," Carina tsked."

"Easy for you to say, you didn't spend the entire day getting grilled by a conference room full of paper pushers."

"True," Carina smirked. "I got new orders."

Sarah grimaced. "Where are you going now? Paris?"

"I can't say yet, but it's someplace sunny and has a roaring night life. I wish you could come with me."

"Me too; the way things are going I'll end up with a burn notice."

"What?" Carina objected. "Come on, the mission was a huge success, I got a raise and a commendation and got to pick my next mission. You're just over reacting as usual. The CIA likes to threaten people, but I'm sure when it all shakes out they'll mark it down as another successful Miller-Walker mission."

"Walker-Miller." Sarah corrected.

"We'll see," Carina said seductively. Sarah just rolled her eyes. "Come on, get dressed. Do you have any _decent_clothes in this closet, because what I've seen so far is just dreadful."

Sarah bristled. "You're going through my clothes?"

"Yeah before you got here and started waving your gun around. There's a hot new club, it's in this old warehouse downtown and we're going."

"Carina, I can't."

"Don't be such an old lady!"

"Carina I have a meeting with a new boss in the morning, I need to get some sleep."

"But I leave in the morning and I don't know when I'll get to see you again…" Carina pouted. "Come on."

Sarah sighed. "Maybe just for a couple of hours, I really do have to go to bed early."

"Excellent! Now let's see if we can make any of your old rags look like something that belongs in a club."

Sarah smirked and shook her head. She had to wonder if there was more to life than gun fights and clubbing. Carina didn't seem to think so, but Sarah was getting tired, so very tired of the grind. There had to be more to life than this. Right?

"Oh my God, are you frowning again?" Carina asked.

"I'm fine," Sarah replied. "Just wondering what's next."

"See that's your problem." Carina shook her head. "Too much thinking."

**A/N**: Makes you wonder why Sarah puts up with Carina as a best friend doesn't it? Hey, if you haven't done it yet, leave me a review then head on over to Malamoo's and check out Chuck vs. The Not So Ordinary Life. She'll be posting the fallout from this chapter soon.


End file.
